Effectiveness of mid-infrared spectroscopy to predict fatty acid composition of Brown Swiss bovine milk

Mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIR) is used to predict fatty acid (FA) composition of individual milk samples (n = 267) of Brown Swiss cows. FAs were analyzed by gas chromatography as a reference method. Samples were scanned (4000 to 900 cm−1) by MIR, and predictive models were developed using modified partial least squares regressions with full cross-validation. The methods using a first derivative or multiplicative scatter corrected plus first derivative resulted, on average, in the best predictions. Coefficients of correlation between measured and predicted C8:0, C10:0, C12:0, C14:0, anteiso-C17:0, c9-C18:1, and medium- and long-chain FA, and saturated, monounsaturated and unsaturated FA ranged from 0.71 to 0.77, suggesting that prediction models can be implemented in milk recording schemes to routinely collect information on FA composition from the whole Brown Swiss population for breeding purposes.